Kirsten Craze

Updated 22 Feb 2023, 10:23am

First published 22 Feb 2023, 10:00am

News Corp Australia Network

An Aussie capital city has been found to have the biggest homes in the world. Picture: News Corp Image Library

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Canberra has long been known as the “Bush Capital” thanks to its sprawling leafy landscape, but now it’s claimed its newest title – the little capital city with the world’s biggest homes.

With a median house size of 256.3 sq m, and a population of just over 450,000, Canberra has the largest pads globally according to a recent study by Buildworld, a UK-based construction industry supplier.

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The capital’s homes are 36 per cent larger than Cairo, the second-ranked capital, which measured an average dwelling size of 188 sq m. It’s more than double the size of homes across the ditch in Wellington where they average 123sq m.

Canberra’s homes are 36 per cent larger than Cairo, the second-ranked capital which measured an average dwelling size of 188 sq m. Picture: Supplied Getty Images

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And Canberran homeowners have, on average, 560 per cent more floor space than those living in Moscow in a typical 45.5sq m space – too small to get a mortgage with some Australian banks.

The report revealed that Asia and Oceana is the continent with the largest homes and that the US – home of all things big – not even ranking near the top.

Washington D.C. averaged a floor plan of 86.6 sq m, coming in at 35 out of the 72 capitals in the study.

While Australia’s other cities weren’t on the national capitals list, recent ABS data from new private sector house building approvals throughout 2012–2021, showed most of our cities are part of the spacious home trend.

A four-bedroom Chapman house on 1701sq m has recently sold for $1.56 million. Picture: Supplied

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New homes in greater Sydney average a floor area of 254sq m, in Melbourne it’s 247sq m and Brisbane has a typical footprint of 241sq m.

Interestingly, the less populous cities of Adelaide and Perth had the smallest layouts at 220sq m and 214sq m respectively.

Overall, the combined capitals averaged 242sq m in Australia, down for the decade from 254sq m in 2012. Only Brisbane and Adelaide saw an increase in floor area of 5 per cent in that time.

The same ABS data set revealed that despite Australia being home to big abodes, the average site area of new homes has actually decreased by 13 per cent over 10 years. A jump in land prices and an uptick in double storey homes is cited as the reason behind shrinking block sizes.

Claire Corby, of Canberra-based Capital Buyer’s Agency, said although the city has experienced significant price growth in recent years, it’s still a location where homebuyers get plenty of square metre bang for their buck.

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“Perhaps people intentionally don’t want a bigger house, but coming out of Covid I think they want their home to feel like a sanctuary, so they probably do value space more now than ever,” she said.

This grand four-bedroom family home on 1062sq m in Canberra’s Nicholls recently sold for $1.755 million. Picture: Supplied

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Claire Corby, of Canberra-based Capital Buyer’s Agency, said although the city has experienced significant price growth, homebuyers still get plenty of square metre bang for their buck. Picture: Supplied

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“Buyers put a lot more focus on the home and having multiple living spaces, as well as a study or even a ‘Zoom room’ now. Having said that, price is still probably the determining factor for most buyers today.”

The current median dwelling price in the ACT is $843,000 with houses at $968,000, only behind Sydney’s $1.242 million, according to PropTrack’s February Home Price Index.

Ms Corby said many of her clients, who would commonly be called “downsizers”, are Sydney empty nesters still seeking spacious properties.

“They don’t want small homes. They’re used to big homes, they’ve got some beautiful pieces of furniture like their 12-seater dining tables. They’re not really downsizing because they come here with $2.5 million and are often excited by what they find.”

Source: Buildworld

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Growing families are another cohort of Canberrans making the most of its larger houses.

“If you’ve got 2-3 kids, you’re in the middle stages of your life and working from home you don’t want to be hemmed in. Locals say ‘Give me a house in the ‘burbs any day’,” said Ms Corby.

“Families want that fourth bedroom, whereas a lot of Canberra’s houses are your basic three bedroom one bathroom. I see a lot of buyers wanting something that’s been renovated with a second living space added on and that extra bedroom.”

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